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Windows XP, Vista or win 7 and what versions for bootcamp installation

Q

Quasimoto16

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 19, 2010
12
0
San Francisco Bay Area
Hello all,
I just bought my used Mac Pro 3ghz "quad core" 2006 model. I am stoked on it and will be using it for video editing(a camera is my next purchase) until then would like to set it up for gaming with windows and BootCamp. I have used Windows XP home with my old computer and was wondering what would be the best OS option.

First, I would prefer to use windows 7 but have read it is not compatible with my Mac Pro. I was hoping possibly something has changed with newer versions of BootCamp or there is a work around. If not...

Second, which would be better XP or Vista. I read that XP wont utilize all four cores and on the other hand Vista is a bit buggy. I am leaning towards Vista. and that brings me to...

Third, should i use the 32bit or 64bit version. I also read that my 2006 Mac Pro is not compatible with the 64bit version however i also know it does have 64bit architecture. What gives? I will be using it for mainly Video editing, Photoshop/illustrator/Flash, Gaming and of course some light office work. Im pretty sure that Final Cut Pro and others utilize the 64bit architecture.

Sorry for the long post, kind of a noob question, but my first MAC B>)
 
Can you elaborate a little more which apps you want to use on the Mac side and what apps on the Windows side. I ask this because I know Illustrator 10 doesn't work correctly on windows 7. The main issue is that it disables most of the Aero graphics when in use, and makes the GUI look like windows 95.

Secondly, being that your computer is relatively old, I'm not sure Windows 7 is the best idea, unless you up the RAM to 4 GB or greater. XP, Vista, and Windows 7 all can handle multiple cores. Indeed Vista is quite buggy and the least desirable. Your hardware is certainly compatible with windows 7 32 or 64 bit, but apple might have not written drivers for it. And XP is quite old, but might end up being the fastest. Can you give your approximate hardware specs?
 
The basic specs are
  • 3 ghz 2x2dualcore "Quad Core" processor
  • 4gigs DDR2 667 ECC FB DIMM RAM(can upgrade to 8 gigs or more soon if need be)
  • a Geforce 7300GT 256MB RamGraphics card(note:in three months i will upgrade to the ATI Radeon 5770 HD 1 GB DDR5 graphics card, it is known to be compatible from posts at macrumors
  • 2 TB Barracuda XT hard drive.
  • 30" Apple Cinema display

for more detailed specs see(it is a custom 3ghz variation of the 2.66 model) http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/stats/mac-pro-quad-2.66-specs.html

Adobe Software will be all CS5 versions:
  • Adobe photoshop CS5 extended
  • Adobe illustrator CS5
  • Adobe Fireworks (most likely)
  • Adobe After Effects CS5
  • Adobe Premiere CS5(maybe)
  • Final Cut Pro 7
  • open office 3.2.1
  • apache and php5 (not sure the version)
  • mysql 5.1.54 (32bit or 64 bit ill have to ask this question later unless anyone can help me out on this post
  • Eclipse for PHP developers(again not sure about 32bit or 64bit)

it seems like its between XP and windows 7. If my system is compatible with windows 7 i might go for it, but if windows XP is faster then its a higher possibility since i will just be using windows for gaming.
 
Last edited:
In my mind, there are only two choices: XP or W7 64-bit. XP if you are concerned about limited space or resources and/or maybe only need it for a specific ap. I run XP via Virtualbox on a couple of different Macs because I need an ap for work. But if you have the space and the specs (which you do), and are running via Bootcamp, you should load W7 64-bit. That is the most up-to-date, generally best version of Windows for reasons I won't go in to or want to argue (but it is true). Now I don't know about the one specific game you mentioned, but god forbid one game would be the reason you made the mistake of going with Vista.

I don't know where you can get a copy of XP any more if you don't have one: Ebay I suppose. OEM W7 are pretty reasonable from the likes of NewEgg. And the procedure of applying the proper Bootcamp updates during installation from a thumbdrive are pretty straight forward - see links previously provided.
 
Well, both XP and Windows 7 will be compatible with the Adobe CS5 suite. I'd say go with whichever is cheaper or you have lying around. I think the 64 bit edition won't be justified because you'll need to buy additional RAM for a serious improvement in speed over the 32 bit OS's.
 
vistadude said:
Well, both XP and Windows 7 will be compatible with the Adobe CS5 suite. I'd say go with whichever is cheaper or you have lying around. I think the 64 bit edition won't be justified because you'll need to buy additional RAM for a serious improvement in speed over the 32 bit OS's.
Click to expand...

On most Macs I would generally agree with you, but on the Mac Pro 64 bit all the way.

If you don't already have a license lying around W7 will generally be cheaper. Adding another 4GB of RAM to that box will set you back ~$125 and is probably well worth it.

B
 
thanks all. That helps me out make my decision. One thing i overlooked is that all that development software is going to be used on the MAC side. Phew, must a been a late night.
The Mac OS is great and can wait to start doing some work with it. So all i have to worry about is the games on windows. Right now i have Fallout 3 and Need for Speed Carbon, but will probably get the the new NFS hot pursuit and some newer games once i get the new video card.

Im going to go with windows 7 64 bit. I'll upgrade my memory to 8 gigs now with another 2-4 gigs in the near future. Thanks again.
 
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